The fast, rugged English game suits Mike Lapper just fine.
The English visit the beaches of Southend-on-Sea when they don’t have the time or money to go to warmer, more luxurious resorts.
“My teammates ask me, ‘Why’d you come from California to here,'” Mike Lapper said. “I say, ‘To play soccer!'”
The North Sea city of 160,000 — only ironically called the Essex Riviera — is rarely a vacationer’s first choice, but for Lapper it’s pretty darn close to heaven.
That’s because the Southern California native’s idea of bliss is playing central defender and seeing as much action as possible. That’s easy with the Southend United “Shrimpers” in the English First Division.
“Whether a forward or the [opponent’s] goalkeeper has the ball,” Lapper said, “you have to be concentrating 100 percent. It will arrive soon. Things happen so fast.”
Southend United has never, in its 89-year history, played in the top tier of English pro ball. Since 1991, it’s been at the second tier, now called the First Division. It finished 13th in the 24-team league last year, and this year is in 15th place after nine league games.
Lapper has missed only one game so far, because of a strained thigh muscle.
Last year, Lapper played in the German Second Division, for VfL Wolfsburg. He scored in his debut and was praised for his aggression and inspiring attitude. With him at marking back, Wolfsburg stood at the top of the standings.
But coach Eckhard Krautzun, who brought Lapper to Germany, fell out of management’s favor despite the team’s good results — it was also en route to a German Cup final appearance — and replacement Gerd Roggensack benched Lapper.
“He didn’t know me,” Lapper said. “He went with players he knew. I went to the bench, and then to the stands.”
More fun than Germany
Now, Lapper has no regrets that German stint didn’t end as well as it started.
“We were in first place when I was playing,” he said. “At the end of the season we were fourth and missed promotion by one spot.”
Most important, Lapper is thriving in England, where he never has to wait long for action.
“The pace is fast,” he said. “It’s quicker than Germany, where they build up slower.
“We play a flat four back. I’m in the middle, on the right, and Mick Bodley plays on my left. How we mark up just depends on how they come.
“Last game [a 3-1 win over Leicester], they started coming at us with one forward, so [the player] whose side he came on marked him. Then they came with two, and we both had a man. By the end of the game, they came with four and the whole backline marked up.
“There has to be good communication and things are shaping up well. Communication is the key. We have to understand each other, not just verbally, but also in knowing what the other defender is going to do.”
He’s also enjoying practice more.
“It’s a little longer here,” he said. “Two hours instead of 90 minutes. It’s not too much different, but here we have a good laugh every once in a while, and still accomplish something. In Germany, it seemed like no one was ever laughing or having a good time.”
Joe-Max Moore, now with German Second Division club Nuremberg, played with Lapper on the North Huntington Beach Untouchables, UCLA (winning the 1990 NCAA title), the U.S. Olympic team and the U.S. national team
“I’ve always thought he should go to England,” Moore said. “He’s such a good header.”
Heading is, of course, a big part of the British game and even Lapper is learning some lessons about the craft.
“We face a variety of forwards,” he said. “Sometimes you’re challenging a 6-foot-2 guy on headers. Sometimes they come with a big striker and small, quick, crafty player. But even the small players go up hard for headers.
“There’s always some bleeding after the game. I haven’t had a bad cut yet, but I’ve had a cut lip, a cut ear…. You learn the best way to jump, and to go up with your elbows out.”
Though struggling somewhat with his thigh injury — Lapper’s been sitting out practices — he has been coping well and receiving good reviews from his manager and the press.
Above all, he’s glad to be on the field. After leading the U.S. team in 2,205 minutes played in 1993, he lost his marking back position to Alexi Lalas and was a reserve at USA ’94. That move may have come because Bora Milutinovic went from a sweeper system to a flat back four, but Lapper — always known for his intensity — nevertheless decided to turn it up a notch.
“In 1993, you couldn’t get me off the field,” Lapper said, “then in 1994, I couldn’t get off the bench. But I learned from that experience. Every time you go on to the field, you have to do the best job you can, or somebody will take your job.”
by Soccer America Senior Editor Mike Woitalla